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Saturday, March 17, 2018

Fantastic Beasts: The Potential Storylines

This week we got our trailer for the “Fantastic Beasts”
sequel: “The Crimes of Grindewald”. As JK Rowling’s wizarding world continues
to expand, we get more and more glimpses into the pre-Harry Potter era of it
all. Seven books and nine movies in, we’re probably only scratching the
surface. But from what we know, here are a few things I’d like to see in this
next movie (or at least by the end of the Fantastic Beasts series). WARNING: Spoilers from the new Fantastic
Beasts trailer.

Hagrid and Aragog:
Likely not in this movie, but seeing as the Fantastic Beasts movies are said to
span 19 years (1926-1945), there’s a chance we could see Hagrid meet Aragog. As
we met a new awkward friend fond of magical creatures, it’s not unreasonable to
think that Newt is the one who gives Aragog to Hagrid. If the Chamber of
Secrets was opened by Tom Riddle in the early 40s, we still have plenty of time
for the Big Friendly Half-Giant to appear.

Voldemort’s
Beginnings: Not that we necessarily need backstory on Voldemort (since “The
Chamber of Secrets” and “The Half-Blood Prince” already basically did that) but
it would be interesting to see glimpses or cameos of Voldemort’s past as the
war against Grindewald happens. Presumably Tom Riddle Jr would be in the orphanage
for the first half of the “Fantastic Beasts” series, so a cameo could be
possible, but perhaps not probable.

Newt’s Backstory:
We got glimpses into Newt’s past with the first “Fantastic Beasts” movie, but I
don’t think it’d be unreasonable to see his flashbacks of his time at Hogwarts.
Maybe learn why he was expelled (and why he got to keep his wand?) and maybe
learn a bit about Leta Lestrange. Especially since the trailer makes it look
like we’re visiting Hogwarts, it wouldn’t be too crazy for Newt to have a few
flashbacks.

Newt’s Future: To
contrast my last comment, it would be interesting (more just for the fun of it)
to see a “flashforward” for Newt at the end of the last movie. Maybe show that
the “Fantastic Beasts” series was him or his son telling Newt’s grandkids or
great-grandkids about his adventures. Maybe even get Evanna Lynch to reprise
her role as Luna Lovegood, as she marries Newt’s grandson.

Dumbledore’s History:
From the trailer, we know we’re supposed to see Dumbledore. Since the series is
supposed to end around the time that Dumbledore defeats Grindewald (can’t remember
if we’re supposed to see that battle or not) it would be likely that we’ll at
least get some dialogue about the Dumbledore and Grindewald families (if not flashbacks).
It could be controversial to show a romance between Dumbledore and Grindewald,
but I think we can at least expect to see their friendship addressed.

What other tidbits from the “Harry Potter” books would you
like to see in the “Fantastic Beasts” movies? Any characters revealed by JK
Rowling that you’d like to see younger cameos from? Maybe a young McGonagall.
That’d be cool. Granted, she’d only be 10 by the end of the series, but still.